Archive for the ‘Playing with paint’ Category

According to Robert Lynd, “in order to see birds it is necessary to become a part of the silence.” I have enjoyed watching many birds over the years and recently some of the birds that I have seen have inspired me to try to recreate images of them in their natural environments. While painting these sandhill cranes, I tried to capture the ancient beauty, grace and strength of this bird species which has existed for more than 2.5 million years. This species is much older than most of the other bird species that are alive today. The world has changed dramatically during this species’ lifespan and these birds have continued to adapt to their new world.

“There is nothing in which the birds differ more from man than the way in which they can build and yet leave a landscape as it was before.”
~ Robert Lynd

In this painting I tried to capture the feelings of tranquility and peacefulness that moonlight can create.

The moon is always a welcome sight in the night sky, especially at this time of the year, when the days are at their shortest and the nights are long and dark. There is something about the moon that has always seemed comforting to me. Throughout all of the ages of human life many among us have gazed up at it and contemplated our place in the universe.

“The moving Moon went up the sky.
And nowhere did abide;
Softly she was going up,
And a star or two beside.”
~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge

While my garden’s soil is cold and still and I wait for its creative juices to start flowing again, I focus my own creative juices more on painting instead of gardening. I love playing with paint, mixing different colors and consistencies, the feel of different brushes on the canvas and the way a few simple brush strokes can create something from nothing.

Just like with gardening, everything I know about painting I have learned by trial and error. I don’t paint particularly well, but I enjoy the process, and occasionally the result is pleasing. I find that putting paint on canvas helps to satisfy my urge to create something myself. When I work in the garden I am mostly an observer of the garden’s creations. I may assist in the process but my role in the creation is much more passive. When I paint the creation is all my own.

We all have creativity within us and expressing it in our own way, and in different ways at different times, nourishes our selves and makes us unique.

“It is not your paintings I like, it is your painting.”
~ Albert Camus